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Title: The Metaphysical Thought of Thomas Aquinas: From Finite Being to Uncreated Being (Monographs of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, 1) by John F. Wippel ISBN: 0-8132-0983-8 Publisher: Catholic University of America Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A useful work, but upside-down in at least one way.
Comment: I enjoyed this work. In particular, Wippel's discussion of the three meanings of participation as found in Thomas' "Commentary on the Hebdomads of Boethius" is something which is not brought out often enough in discussions of metaphysics.
I was, however, somewhat perplexed by Wippel's insistence on delaying so long the question of God's existence. This would have made some sense if the demonstration of God's existence somehow depended upon the "logical" participation that all created beings have in "esse," namely the "esse commune" of creatures. But since that is not the case, and we could equally prove the existence of God from one creature rather than all creatures in common, why spend so much time avoiding the issue of God's existence? And since creatures have their "to be" (esse) only by analogy with God's, and this is most certainly an analogy of attribution, not the internal analogy of proper proportion between "esse" and "essentia" in creatures, does not the very "logical" community of creaturely "esse" depend upon the existence of God as the ground of that community? Perhaps I am risking misunderstanding by saying this, but it strikes me as a somewhat Heideggerian move, rather than a Thomistic one. It raises Heidegger's "Sein" to a philosophic preeminence rather than ground "Sein" by analogy in God's transcendance. There is the real risk that God will indeed simply become the Highest Being (ens), rather than "Ipsum Esse Subsistens." Surely, this is not Wippel's intention, but by putting this forward in such an order, he seems to adopt a doctrine of analogy at variance with Thomas'. Perhaps this order of exposition is one of the things the previous reviewer objected to. Gilson maintained a theological order of exposition beginning with God and descending to creatures, the very pattern of the Summa. Perhaps the order can be inverted in a purely philosophical mode, but not lightly so, nor without investigating and defending explicitly the repercussions for a doctrine of participation and analogy. Certainly, in any exposition real relations and communities must precede logical ones, and I do not see that one can posit a real community of beings when the Prime Analogate is missing.
To sum up then, this is a valuable book, but I have some reservations about the order of exposition.
Rating: 4
Summary: Could Become a Standard Text for Aquinas
Comment: Wippel has written a monster of a text on Aquinas. This text deals with anything and everything metaphysic in Thomistic thinking on the subject. The reason I gave it four stars and not five was for certain disagreements that I had with certain positions Wippel took as apposed to my Gilsonian influence of Thomism (i.e. the faith and reason issue and to what extent can philosophy be 'Christian' and the role philosophy plays alongside of or with theology).
Wippel's text is very well written. Certain parts are hard to follow and some of the content is quite dense, but not so dense that a little 'mental elbow' strength would not help.
As the title suggests, the text is a treatise on the metaphysics of Aquinas. Thus, the issues of existence, esse (being), a being (ens), substance, matter, form, etc. are all present an accounted for. Wippel discusses in great detail the one and many issue, substance/accidents composition, prime matter, finite being, uncreated being, God's existence, naturally the five ways of Aquinas, predication (analogy, quidditative knowledge, etc.), essence/esse, and so much more. This text is 630 pages of nothing but Thomistic metaphysics.
Those of you who have learned Aquinas metaphysics through Gilson (which is where I got my introduction to Thomistic metaphysics) then this book will cajole you to reexamine some of what you may have learned in the past. Wippel is in strong disagreement with some of Gilson's assertions and Wippel tells his reader when he disagrees, states his case of disagreement and then offers argumentation for a different view.
I was introduced to this book this semester at Marquette University in a class I am currently taking on Aquinas. The text has been quite helpful, difficult to read at times but a good solid reference tool which I know I will use for years to come in studies of Aquinas. If you are seriously interested in Thomistic metaphysics then you will not want to be without this text.
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Title: The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics by W. Norris Clarke, Norris Clarke ISBN: 0268037078 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: An Interpretation of Existence by Joseph Owens ISBN: 0268011575 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1985 List Price(USD): $9.50 |
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Title: Explorations in Metaphysics: Geing-God-Person by W. Norris Clarke ISBN: 0268006970 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Aquinas and His Role in Theology (Theology) by Marie-Dominique Chenu, Paul Philibert ISBN: 0814650791 Publisher: Michael Glazier Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Cognition: An Epistemological Inquiry by Joseph Owens ISBN: 0268007918 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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